That’s the headline of a Xinhua article published today about Party cadres learning to deal with “vexatious questions” from the media:
“Skills to deal with the media are part of political competence,” said Gao Xinmin, a veteran professor on Party construction and the course instructor.
“Tactics are needed, like politeness and quick but skilful responses, in dealing with the media, but one of the most important things in this regard is to be candid,” she added.
“Candidness not only woos media, but also the people, and it is needed because the public are not to be fooled,” she said. “The media are our friends, and not enemy. We should respect them because their mission is to seek and report truth.”
However, some media are more friendly than others. A particularly friendly media organization is the People’s Daily, which was lauded by Xinhua today for something that strains credibility:
CPC mouthpiece gains record high popularity among Chinese readers